Toilet seat lid cover and method of attaching drawstrings to the edges thereof



Sept. 5, 1939. R J'. SAILER TOILET SEAT LID COVER AND METHOD OF ATTACHIIIG DRAWSTRINGS TO THE EDGES THEREOF Filed Sept 4, 1936 Zlwuwrvboo fludolphrel s'ailer vanes:

Patented Sept. 5, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT- OFFICE TOILET SEAT LID COVER AND METHOD OF ATTACHING DRAWSTRINGS TO THE EDGES THEREOF Application September 4, 1936, Serial No. 99,368

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in edgefinishing expedients for articles of manufacture having a tape or draw-string disposed along the edge of the article.

6 The invention has among its objects to provide an edge-finish which not only enhances the appearance of the article to which it is applied, but which is capable of being produced on a sewing machine at a relatively rapid rate, and which,

10 advantageously, may be employed in the manufacture of various articles, such as toilet seat lidcovers, etc., where a draw-string is desired.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an improved edge-finishing seam for 15 tufted articles or materials, which seam is adapted to be utilized for either ornamental or utilitarian purposes.

In the manufacture of tufted articles of the character in question, the method customarily 20 employed in the, past consisted of cutting the canvas or similar body-material into the desired shape from large sheets of material, hemming the marginal edges of the body-material, inserting a draw-string within the hem-pocket 25 and applying the lines of tufts, in closely spaced parallel rows with a tufing machine of a character well understood in the art. In the practice of this method, considerable time and labor is consumed in performing the tufting operation, since 30 the articles must be individually presented to the tufting machine, it being necessary to terminate each row of tufts at a uniform distance from the hemmed edge of the article so as tc form the desirable un-tufted margin around said article.

35 It is therefore a further object of the present invention to provide a method which will reduce the expense of producing articles of this character and which will permit more rapid production thereof, inasmuch as the tufting may be o initially applied to a large section of the backing which may be subsequently cut into sections of the desired shape and presented to a suitable sewing machine for application of the edge-finish.

With these and other objects in view, as will 5 hereinafter appear, the invention consists in the novel edge-finish and in the method of producing the same as hereinafter described in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, in which-i Fig. 1 represents a top plan view of a toilet seat lid-cover provided upon substantially its entire edge with the novel edge-finish. Fig. 2 represents an enlarged sectional view of the cover applied to a toilet seat lid L. Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of a section of the edge-finishing seam & which extends substantially entirely around the lid-cover. Fig. 4 represents an enlarged crosssectional view of the edge-flnishtaken substantially on the line fl4, Fig. 1.

According to-the present method of attaching a draw-string to the edge of an article, a body material I, which, in the preferred embodiment of the invention chosen for the purpose of illustration, consists of canvas or similar fabric, is initially provided with tufts 2 preferably applied in closely spaced parallel rows with a tufting machine of usual construction, variously colored yarns and the like and combinations of the same being used to give the required ornamental effect. The body-material may be in sheet form or may be cut into sections slightly larger in size than the finished product. After the tufting has been applied, the partially completed article is presented to a suitable sewing machine, preferably of .the well known overedge type, which is equipped with a trimming mechanism adapted to cut the body-material to the finished size and shape and simultaneously therewith effect the production'of the novel edge-finishing seam.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the novel seam comprises a binding-strip 3, a tape or draw-string 4 disposed within the binding strip and upon the marginal face of the body material I, and a row of overedge stitches 5 which entirely enclose the binding-strip 3 and the draw-string 4, loosely securing them to the tufted body material. By referring to Fig. 3, it will be understood that, in forming the edge-finish on the articles operated on, the binding strip 3 is preferably folded about the margin of the body material I and the drawstring 4 is preferably positioned wholly within the binding-strip and upon the upper face of the body material. In its present application; the binding-strip serves a two-fold purpose: firstly, it prevents the draw-string from cutting through the overedge stitches during repeated gathering of the edge of the cover and, secondly, it overlies and compresses the nap or tufts 2 adjacent the edge of the cover, Fig. 4, in such a way as to give to the completed article an appearance of having a uniform margin along the edge thereof.

The well-known three-thread overedge seam disclosed in the preferred embodiment of the invention may beproduced on any suitable overseaming machine, but it isto be understood that in its broader aspects the present invention is not limited to any specific arrangement of overedge stitches for securing the binding-strip and drawstring to the cover. Obviously threads difiering in'color from the binding-strip may be employed,

thereby to impart a more ornamental effect to the finished article.

It will be understood that one of the advantages of loosely securing the binding-strip 3 to the bodymaterial I by the overedge stitches 5 is that the binding-strip may be moved or shifted in an endwise direction relative to the body-material after it has been secured thereto. This movement of the binding-strip 3 is desirable since it permits the initial puckering of the binding-strip, present at the more sharply curved marginal edge of the body-material, to be distributed evenly along the entire length of the binding-strip. When the finished article is being displayed in retail establishments, it is desirable that its appearance be made as pleasing as possible and, inasmuch as the initial puckering of the binding-strip can be distributed evenly throughout its entire length, it is possible to produce an article which has comparatively no pucker and therefore is of pleasingappearance. When the body-material is in gathered condition, such as shown in Fig. 2, the binding-strip may likewise be moved in an endwise direction relative to the body-material so as to distribute evenly the surplus amount of binding-strip resulting from the gathering of the body-material, thereby eliminating the pronounced spaced puckering which detracts from the appearance of the finished article.

The manner in which the cover is mounted upon the toilet seat lid L is clearly disclosed in Fig. 2. It will be observed in Fig. 1 that the draw-string preferably does not extend completely around the cover. but is omitted from that portion of the seam which binds the rear edge of the cover.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the cutting of the body-material l into the desired size and shape, the application of the binding-strip 3 and draw-string 4, and the pro-' duction, of the overedge stitches 5 may be readily performed in one operation by employment of a sewing machine provided with a suitable trimming mechanism, a binder and a. strip-guide.

Although the invention has been described for purposes of illustration only in relation to its application to toilet seat lid-covers, it is to be realized that it is equally applicable for applying a draw-string to or reinforcing or finishing the edges of other articles of manufacture.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention,-what I claim herein is:

1. An edge-flnishingseam for sewed articles comprising, a body-material, a binding-strip folded about the marginal edge of said body-material, a draw-string disposed entirely within said binding-strip, and a series of three-thread overedging stitches loosely securing said binding-strip and draw-string to said body-material.

2. A toilet seat lid-cover comprising a tufted body-material, a binding-strip embracing an edge of said body-material and concealing from view at least one row of marginal tufts, a tape loosely disposed within said binding-strip, and a series of overedge stitches enveloping and securing the binding-strip to said body-material.

RUDOLPH J. SAILER. 

